A Shinobi for the Queen
by Mayor Tanya von Degurechaff
Summary: Betrayed and having Kyuubi removed, Naruto thought that his life was finally over. However, fate was not that merciful. Instead, he was sent to the world he knew nothing about, alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own neither of these anime. There will be no Kurama; smarter and calm Naruto, ooc-Naruto. This story takes place three years before Ainz's arrival, it means that Calca will be 22 years old at the start of this fiction. But there will be time skips, so it will not be too long before Ainz arrival, I think.**

**I warn you: my grammar is terrible; please, consider it before deciding on reading this fic.**

**A Shinobi for the Queen**

**-Chapter 1: A Fallen Shinobi in the New World-**

He had thought that all of the people of Konoha had accepted him as one of their own after he had defeated Pain and made Nagato revived the ones he had killed. He had seen with his own two eyes that those people welcomed him like a hero he's supposed to be; he had seen them cheering and smiling at him; he had even forgotten all things they had done in the past because of those cheers and smiles. Yet, the ones who had cheered and smiled at him were now smirking at him as the black thing rendered his weak body immobile with some sort of seals he knew not.

"You can leave, take the money with you."

That voice, even though there's no stupid tone in that, Naruto remembered it to be the voice of one of the weird Akatsuki member, which later explained by his father as the member of uchiha clan, the one who his father thought as Uchiha Madara. _So, those people sold me to Akatsuki.. to this Madara?_ Naruto smiled bitterly at the fact that was so hard to believe, seeing them waving while muttering parting words filled with contempt was enough to weaken his heart, he had no more will to struggle. Not that he could even if he wanted too, the seals that were placed on him was so strong that even talking was not possible. If only he did bother to learn fuinjutsu, perhaps he'd have never fallen into this situation.

"Kyuubi Jinchuriki."

The masked man stood before him, but Naruto could only look back at him with all anger he had.

"You surprised me, I have never considered that Nagato and Konan would betray me, but they did. Truly, you're so good with your mouth that makes me wonder whether you are a manipulator just like me. Though, I wish not to test that thought of mine; with kyuubi finally on my hand, I will soon bring peace to this rotten world. Fear not, Kyuubi Jinchuriki, I will make you a hokage once I start the Mugen Tsukuyomi. Farewell, Uzumaki Naruto, may we meet again in the world of dream."

Just as the man finished his monologue, his lone sharingan eye sprung and Naruto found himself feeling sleepy. He did try to resist, but his effort was futile. Though, he didn't go down willingly. With the remaining seconds he had, Naruto glared at him with every emotion he could muster.

"You're quite stubborn, just like your mother."

—**New World—**

He had died. Naruto was sure of it: he had indeed died. He could no longer feel his birth companion's presence, so there's no doubt that he had died. Yet, he could see the vast blue sky far above him, he could hear his heartbeat, he could feel his respiration circulation, he could move his fingers: he was, somehow, alive.

What had happened to him after the Kyuubi was taken from him?

Naruto tried to recall his memories, but he didn't remember anything after that masked bastard had mocked him, he didn't feel like his memories being altered either. It meant that as soon as he lost consciousness and then died, he did not go to afterlife. He went back to life after he died, without any delay. But, it should be impossible. Even if he was revived, it should take some amount of time between his death and resurrection. The most logical conclusion was that he did not die, but it was also impossible for him to survive after Kyuubi being taken away. Besides, that bastard Madara wouldn't bother revived him.

…About people from Konoha..? Tsunade was unconscious and wouldn't awaken so soon, aside of Tsunade…, he didn't dare to think they care. His peers might care, but they were not in control of the village, so that was not an option.

So, how could he still be among the living? Naruto had no answer; he could think nothing about how he was still alive.

Sighing, Naruto stretched his body and stood up from his laying position. There's no use asking question which had no light about its answer, it was better for him to find his where about. With that thought, Naruto observed his surrounding carefully, not wanting to miss anything that could shade some light into his confusion. However, even after hopping to the tree nearby, he couldn't tell where at the moment he was. Not having any more option, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated – trying to tap into his sennin mode.

Naruto frowned. How could the natural energy become so rich yet so wick? It was as if he was at a place not of his own, it was like he was in another dimension as a whole.

_In another dimension?_

Naruto's frown deepened. He focused his mind and increased his speed in controlling the natural energy. With the amount of it, he should be able to shorten the time. However, the quality of it, which was quite bad compared to "normal" natural energy, made that so he needed more time to fully control it. All in hall, there's no change to the "how long" he needed to stand still to gather the natural energy. As soon as it activated, Naruto could not help but groaned in frustration. "There is no fucking chakra even a little!" screamed Naruto as loud as he could. "For toad sake, where the hell am i? In what dimension have I lost to?!" he yelled in anger.

Of course there was no one who would give him response, not that he hoped there would, it's just that he needed to let all his anger and frustration out. If not then he would go insane, the disappearing of his senjutsu was the very proof of that. Regardless that he's no longer a jinchuriki, Naruto would still prefer to stay sane. So he inhaled the oxygen, held it in his lungs for dozens seconds, and exhaled it slowly through his mouth. He repeated it for a dozen times, he stopped doing it after he had calmed himself down.

Now that he had calmed himself, Naruto started to observe his surrounding once again. He could see trees surrounded him. Ahead of the small forest where he stood, there were plains, small river near the far end of the forest, and at far end of the plains he could see hills that stood strong and mighty. Though, he could clearly tell that a few of Chou Oodama Rasengan could destroy one of those. He's not going to do it though, he's not so insane to waste his time by destroying things. It was better for him to decide what to do from now on.

As things stood, he's stuck inside this world. There's a hope if he learned fuinjutsu—his father had ensured that he had all tools needed to learn it. But there's a problem, he needed to open a space to left this dimension. Normal teleportation was not working, it couldn't bypass the dimension boundaries, if it was working then he had already summoned Pa and had him reversed summon him. But he had not, Naruto was aware of that simple fact. To cross dimension, it needed a far complex seals than the summoning seal or his father hiraishin seal. However, such seals were not possible even for the like of his father. Then, could he do something his father couldn't?

Obviously, he could be better than his father, but to create such complex seals? Naruto was no god, and he had no shitty eyes like that masked bastard's.

Besides, why should he go back? Who would miss him there?

He could count on some names that would miss him, such as Hinata, Tsunade, Konohamaru, Pa, Ma, Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, and some other people. They indeed would miss him, but would they need him? They would shed tears for him, but Naruto—more than anyone—knew that they did not need him to continue living. Hinata was the only exception, but.., she was a strong and kind hearted woman, she'd be fine even without him. Sure it would take times, but Naruto believed that the girl would continue on living; she had no choice but to live. Unless there would be a miracle that brought him back, but Naruto had stopped believing in hope and miracle the moment he saw those eyes. He had been hoping for miracle for forever, he needed to stop being naïve. Perhaps, if he was not so naïve, he'd never been in this situation.

Naruto sighed and jumped down from the top of the tree. He was really tired, both mentally and physically. He needed to rest, he needed to rest before he decide what to do in this world. Perhaps he could start from zero, unlike in Konoha who called him "demon brat", this world's people knew nothing about him. Naruto couldn't help but smiled. "This time it would be a normal start," he muttered and leant against the tree. After creating ten seal-less shadow clones, Naruto closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Naruto awoke when the sun set behind the horizon, welcoming the night to bless the world. He was soon greeted by two clones of him who had prepared food for him to eat. Even though they were his clones, they could actually think just like him, so it was appropriate to thank them. Accepting his thanks, the two clones disappeared and left him with memories while he was sleeping.

After eating a few baked fishes and drank clean water to freshen his throat, Naruto created a small bonfire using the woods his clones had collected. He folded his left sleeve and put his right index finger on the seal his father had crafted on his shoulder, he injected a little chakra into it and a puff of white smoke was heard soon after. What he had taken was a scroll which contained all sort of tools a shinobi in mission would ever need, from within that scroll he pulled out a tent and a set of clothes. The usual cloth he was wearing was good, but he needed a new style of cloth if he wanted to start it anew. He'd not wear anything that reminded him of the tragic past, he had decided to live this second life to the fullest after all.

A seal-less shadow clones appeared next to him. Naruto instructed it to set the tent while he would go wash himself in the river at the far end of the forest. The clone nodded his head without any fuss, Naruto departed from there right away.

It was about half hour later Naruto returned to the tent. He was no longer cladded in his black-orange attire. He was now wearing black anbu pants and a simple dark shirt with Uzumaki symbol on its chest area, he used the same blue shinobi sandal and had no shinobi headband on him—he was not wearing it when that bastard captured him. He did not comb his blond hair, he let it as messy and wild as it was, that messy and wild style suited him better than any other style.

Also, he had come to realize the effects of the disappearance of Kyuubu from his gut. Aside of his whiskered mark become lighter and that his skin became a bit paler compared to his normal tan skin, he had not fully lost his super healing ability, it only became a bit slower than usual. And there's the most important thing compared to those three, his chakra control became a little better than before. Now he was happy, he'd increase his chakra control to the level which would allow him to use a simple genjutsu. He was aware that his chakra was too much for it to allow him free access to genjutsu, but a simple genjutsu such as putting people to sleep was not impossible at all.

Thinking about genjutsu, he had come to remember his encounter with Itachi while he was looking for Sasuke. The genius Uchiha had put him into illusion and forced a crow to enter his mouth. Now that he thought about it, was it real, that crow? Did that crow really live inside him? Naruto had no way of knowing, the only thing he could tell was to try forcing that crow out of him, and try he did.

…To no avail.

Naruto didn't disappointed by the failure; if he could do it then Kyuubi would have forced it out the moment it entered. Rather, he fully expected the failure. The one who put it inside him was Itachi, surely it could not be handle with a normal mean. The only way he could think of was using fuinjutsu, it was the only way to bring it out. "Alright then," said Naruto as he took a scroll which contained all books and tools needed to master fuinjutsu. He took one of the books and threw it at his clone. "Finish it as soon as possible," he ordered.

As his clone started reading the book, Naruto seated himself in a lotus position. He needed to better his chakra control, to the level that he could use jutsu from the other elements which were not his chakra nature. Since his was wind, then he needed to be able to convert his chakra to the other four main elements. And when that happened, only then he could learn genjutsu properly. "Perhaps I will stay in the forest for a month or two, meanwhile my eight clones I sent earlier will gather as much information as they could," he said to himself and began concentrating. He would make used of the shadow clone's ability to maximize his training.

**..two months later..**

A swing of katana fell right beside his left body, he had avoided the slash of his clone with minimal effort. Though, that was not the end of it, the clone shifted its body lightly and forced the katana to move horizontally trying to cut him in half. Naruto reacted fast by jumping a dozen meters above, while in the air he made a hand seal and breathed a fireball toward his clone. The fireball was inferior in size to that of Itachi's, however the speed at which it speeded toward his clone was at equal standing.

However, the clone did not waver. It merely stared at the fireball before expertly swung its jet black sword with dark red hilt vertically at the coming fireball, which resulted by the fireball being cut in half before hitting the ground on the left and right sides of the clone.

Naruto was satisfied at the work of his fireball and his clone sword. That sword was no normal sword, it made of steel that was sensitive to chakra and had been enchanted by numerous of seals. The sword was the work of the finest Uzumaki's Blacksmith. Naruto knew not of that blacksmith, but he had found that sword inside his mother's belongings his father had given to him, so he made good use of it. He was not an expert when it came to sword but he would soon be one of them. The only thing that he could never be master was at genjutsu and medical ninjutsu, it was not his fault that he had no perfect chakra control like those Senju; he had to make the best of what he had.

Naruto landed softly dozens meters before the clone, the clone was speeding toward him with the katana covered by lightning as soon as he landed. Naruto flashed a few hand seals and inhaled a large sum of oxygen, "**Fire Style: Dragon Flame**."

Flame in the form of serpent dragon burst out of Naruto's mouth heading in exceedingly fast speed toward the advancing clone. That Dragon Flame was Naruto's strongest fire jutsu at the moment, he would be annoyed if the clone could cut it like he cut the fireball. True that fireball could be an A rank jutsu if it was executed properly, but Naruto could only make a C rank fireball at the moment.

The clone decreased its speed and evaded the dragon flame by jumping left, however, the dragon flame tried to pursue it but its form soon crumbled and disappeared from existence.

"It will take times to make it an S rank ninjutsu," muttered Naruto in expectation.

The clone did not waste its time, it dashed right away toward Naruto with sword swung high, the lightning which covered the blade was running wild. _I cannot win with only fire ninjutsu,_ muttered Naruto with a frown on his forehead. "It is enough," so he said, and the clone disappeared instantly, making the lightning disappeared and katana fell onto the ground.

Naruto bent his body slightly and took the fallen sword. He gripped its hilt with his right hand strongly and swung it a few times. Satisfied, Naruto let the sword disappeared back into the seal on his left forearm.

As he did that, a clone jumped down before him, making a gush of wind to spark as it did so. The clone was the only clone left, Naruto had dismissed all of his other clones night prior. The previous clone he sparred with was the more durable shadow clone he had made, not his normal shadow clone. "I put all the money and interesting magic items I managed to buy inside the scroll," the clone said and threw him a small scroll.

Naruto caught the scroll and smiled. "Thank you, you can leave."

"I'm you, there's no need to say thanks," saying that, the clone disappeared with a small smile of its own.

Naruto sealed the scroll inside the storage seal on his left shoulder and started walking. He didn't need to check how much money his clone managed to loot from many bad guys that running this world underworld. Since the shadow clones transferred the memories to him once they disappeared, he also came to know everything his clones had done in these two months.

He was satisfied with the amount of information his clones had gotten. Still, he had not decided on what to do with his new life, but at least he had decided to go to the nearest kingdom from this small forest to experience what his clone had done with his own real body, Roble Holy Kingdom.

Roble Holy Kingdom was a nation whose territory was the peninsula to the southwest of the Re-Estize Kingdom. It was led by a holy queen who could use divine magic, its leadership was closely tied to the temple factions. It was a very religious country, not to the extent of the Slane Theocracy though.

In addition, there were two special features about the Roble Holy Kingdom's geography. The first was that its land was divided into northern and southern halves by the sea. Of course the halves were not completely separated. Rather, there was a gigantic bay between them – forty kilometers long and two hundreds kilometers wide – which made its geography look like a horizontal U. Thus, some people called them the Northern and Southern Holy Kingdom.

Then, there was another feature. The entrance to the peninsula sported a great wall, over one hundred kilometers long from north to south. It was built to withstand invasions from the many demihuman tribes which occupied the Abellion Hills to the east of Holy Kingdom, in between the Holy Kingdom and Slane Theocracy, the hills that were closed to the forest he had lived in for two months. That grand wall, built through the expenditure of a great deal of time and resources, was a silent testimony to how troubling the existence of demihumans were to the Holy Kingdom.

…To such kingdom did he journey.

He did not go there to be a hero who would save them from those demihumans, it just happened that the kingdom was the closest kingdom from the forest. Aside of experiencing it with his own real body, Naruto wanted to test it himself – the so called magic, talents, and martial arts. However, if the demihumans bothered him while he was there, then there's no other choice other than to eliminate them – like what he had done to the ones who had come to the forest while he's there.

In Hoburns, inside the royal palace, the Holy Queen sat in silence overlooking the ground below. Her long smooth blonde hair waving gently as the wind blew it. The owner didn't feel any annoyance by the wind, rather, she seemed to enjoy the fresh air the wind brought. Besides, she liked to sit at the balcony like this every now and then, she'd always do that to remind her of her position and dreams she had.

Like all people with the will to think, Calca Bessarez also had dreams. She wanted to unify the southern and the northern region into a solid and strong Roble Holy Kingdom. She wanted to rule with justice, kindness, and be fair to the kingdom's citizen whether it nobles or peasants. She wanted the holy kingdom to be a peaceful land, less bloodshed, and of course to be prosper. She wanted to be a good queen to her people, she wanted to make them all lived without fear, to live with everlasting smile on their lips. Also, she wanted to find a capable man to love, a man worthy to be her husband, a strong man who would give her strong children, a man she could love with all her heart.

…Such man, she had not found him yet. That was also the reason that she could not being persistent on denying the rumor that she had an unhealthy relationship with Kelart Custodio — none of them had a man of their own to prove their denial. Even though she indeed wanted to have a man to make her a true woman, that still was not the main concern. It was not a concern at all. She was the Holy Queen first and the woman later; her concerns were things related to the holy kingdom and the well-being of her people.

"My Queen!"

"Calca-sama."

Calca shifted her sight toward the sisters that were walking toward her. Kelart seemingly had returned from the meeting, and Remedios seemed to take that advantage to come to her — she had been adamant that she wanted to be left alone. "Kelart, I take that the meeting is concluded?" asked Calca as she returned the smile to the priest. "And Remedios, I thought I have asked you to wait me outside?"

"Yes, it has been concluded, Calca-sama."

"I'm your guard, My Queen," countered Remedios, with a smile on her lips.

Calca did not say anything as she heard Remedios' response, at least the woman could counter her words. It's not that she accused her stupid ‒ Remedios could be stupid sometimes, but she did have her point plus that made that stupidity bearable ‒ Calca just wanted for Remedios to be better. There would come a day when the bob haired girl would be forced to think hard on her own, so she was just merely helping her – or so she wanted to believe.

Calca motioned the two sisters to sit with her on the empty chairs surrounded the table – there were three chairs in total, and sat they did.

"So, what can you tell me about the meeting?" Calca asked with interest filled her gentle tone, her eyes landed softly on the long black haired girl which style was similar to her own.

"There's nothing much to tell, but as thing stand, there will be no way for you to have big influence in the south other than marrying one of the nobles. No matter how much the temple tries, they don't care at all."

Calca didn't surprised by hearing that, she had concluded it herself that there's no other way for her to unify the holy kingdom except by marrying one of the nobles. Of course she had no thought of doing so, none of the nobles interested her. Indeed a couple of nobles' sons had an eye-catching look, but that was just that, looks, nothing else. Such man, they're not worthy of being her husband.

"I still don't get it, what is wrong for an awesome and capable woman to be the ruler of the holy kingdom?"

Both Calca and Kelart synchronically shifted their eyes on the woman who was just asking such rhetorical question. They both sighed in defeat, it was no longer a surprise to hear that kind of questions coming from the strongest human in the holy kingdom. Remedios did not like thinking, all people knew about that fact. "That's just how the holy kingdom is, Remedios," so Calca said.

"That's why you wanted to make it a better place for all to live, right, My Queen?" Remedios was quick to respond, her eyes shone brightly and filled with pride.

She couldn't help but smile, "That is my dream," she said convincingly, eyes filled with hope.

"And together, we will make it true," chimed Kelart. "The Roble Holy Kingdom, we will make it as our queen idealizes it."

Calca's smile widened. Kelart's words had warmed her heart as always, she was such a good friend, really. Even though she had long known that such dream was impossible with the cruel world they were living, her friend's words managed to light her hope which lately had darkened. "Indeed," Calca said. "We will make it as I idealize it."

Yes, she should not stop hoping. Just like the sun which had never stopped shines the world, she too must never stop hoping. Even if it would be an empty hope, but as long as she could hope then she must held that hope tight. Never let it go, no matter what. For there might be one in million chance that her hope would be granted.

…That, she wanted to believe.

After a long while walk, Naruto finally stood before the great wall that had been protecting the Holy Kingdom for so many years. He was wearing black shinobi pants and a royal red yukata with black obi, beneath yukata he wore a simple black long sleeve shirt, and complimenting his attire were a pair of dark blue shinobi sandals. His blond hair was messy as usual, he had not changed it despite he dressed as a noble. All in all, Naruto was confident with his appearance, everyone who landed sight on him would think that he's a noble from a distant land.

Behind the great wall, the Fortress City of Kalinsha was standing proud. The fortress was the first and final defensive of the Northern Holy Kingdom. If the demihuman managed to take down the fortress, then it would be easier for them to march toward Prart before finally reached the capital city of the Holy Kingdom, Hoburns. Because of the utmost important of the fortress, a capable leader and one of their strongest warriors were assigned there. Aside of that leader, one of the famous member of Nine Colors known as "Black" was also assigned in that city. Recently, another member of Nine Colors was also placed there under that "Black". Even though they were strong in this world standard, they were no match for him, he could kill them with empty hand, without much effort, too.

Applying wind chakra, Naruto was slowly floating high in the air, and it took only a few seconds for him to land above the great wall. As he expected since he had not bothered to hide himself, a few soldiers came approaching him confidently. Ah, Naruto, through his clone, recognized that man who was leading a few soldiers behind him. Pavel Baraja, that was the name of the man, he was also known as "Black", one of the member of Nine Colors.

"I don't know who you are, but, I believe you should wait before the closed gate," Pavel said in a stern voice. Even though his voice was clear and full of confident, Naruto believed that the man was wary. Of course it was natural to be wary of him; even though he had noble appearance, any capable man would realize that he was a fighter. And since the one who was leading the soldier was a man with dozens of experience, it was natural for him to be on guard before Naruto.

Naruto smiled. His clone had not bother to investigate deeper about each member of Nine Colors aside of "White". His clone had actually bothered to investigate the "White" due to her connection with the Holy Queen, If not, Naruto was sure that his clone would not bother. "I don't like waiting more than three minutes," so Naruto said in his noble-like tone.

**-End of Chapter-**

**A/N:  
Unlike Players, NPCs, and residents of New World, Naruto does not have game restrictions on him. If low level spells and weapons will not work on the high level beings, they do work on Naruto—he has no such thing as passive skill or immunity to weapon or spell. Despite shinobi's offensive is far more destructive compare to New World's people, the shinobi also has so many weakness in comparison to them, it means that Naruto can be killed with a simple knife if he's not being careful. While on the other hand, A rank attack is needed to hurt the level 100 players/NPCs. Also, the characters may not be on spot to the canon, it is hard to write the characters as they're while they are not mine. Please, don't flame me for the different in personalities…**

**Here the strength comparison:  
-Level 10-25: Genin  
-Level 26-45: Chuunin  
-Level 46-65: Jounin  
-Level 66-85: Elite Jounin/Anbu  
-Level 86-100: S-Rank**

**Tier magic and Ninjutsu comparison:  
-1****st**** tier: D-Rank Ninjutsu  
-2****nd**** tier: D-Rank Ninjutsu  
-3****rd**** tier: C-Rank Ninjutsu  
-4****th**** tier: C-Rank Ninjutsu  
-5****th**** tier: C-Rank Ninjutsu  
-6****th**** tier: B-Rank Ninjutsu  
-7****th**** tier: B-Rank Ninjutsu  
-8****th**** tier: A-Rank Ninjutsu  
-9****th**** tier: A-Rank Ninjutsu  
-10****th**** tier: S-Rank Ninjutsu  
-Super tier: Above S-Rank Ninjutsu**

**Naruto's current profile:  
-Taijutsu: A (S if he used Senjutsu)  
-Ninjutsu: S  
Wind (Above S)  
Fire (A)  
Lightning (B)  
Earth (B)  
Water (B)  
-Medical Ninjutsu: C  
-Kenjutsu: A (S if he used Senjutsu)  
-Genjutsu: C  
-Fuinjutsu: B**


	2. Chapter 2

**-Chapter 2-**

People from outside the holy kingdom rarely visited the Holy Kingdom, even if they did visit, it mostly through the sea-route. It was understandable why they would prefer the sea-route over the land-route: with the demihumans roaming around the hills, it was always dangerous to venture through the land; while on the other hand, the guardian deity ensured the safety of journeying through the sea-route. That did not mean no one came through the land, it just that the ones who preferred the land—nobles and merchants—usually had many strong warriors or adventurers guarding them, thus ensuring the safety of the journey. But the blond young man—who had walked in leisure pace throughout the land and had floated above the great wall—had come alone without anyone accompanying him, he had truly come alone. Appearance-wise, the young man seemed to be a magic caster, but his sturdy body was yelling that he was a warrior. The Paladin could use magic as well, that's true, but he had never heard of any warrior alike aside of Paladin who could use magic. Was it normal in where-ever the young man from to be a warrior and be able to use magic as well?

"I don't know who you are, but, I believe you should wait before the closed gate," so Pavel said in a stern voice, starting the conversation between them.

He had never felt fear no matter who he was facing against, but the young man cladded in noble attire he had never seen before was different. Even though the blond young man's demeanor was graceful and his smile showed kindness, Pavel couldn't shake the uneasy feeling as his black eyes stared into those deep blue eyes. Not to mention the strength the young man possessed that he could not measure, the young man was everything but normal. He must be careful on how to proceed.

"I don't like waiting more than three minutes," responded the young man, as normal as if he was talking about weather.

That response baffled Pavel. Was it supposed to be a joke? He was inkling to believe it was a joke, but the young man's expression told him that he was being serious. Pavel blinked twice; he did not know what to say to that joking yet serious response.

"Oi, oi, that response, it is so cool!"

Pavel didn't need to look back to tell whose voice was that. Olrand, that guy had no manner. Even though he had defeated him in the mock battle two weeks ago, the guy still didn't give a damn about his lecture. Not that he minded it, he understood the kind of man his friend was so he's fine with it, but this was not time to be that blunt. Olrand needed to follow the rule to show the dignity of the holy kingdom.

"Oh, to think that you understand the awesomeness of that principle, I'm so honored, o great warrior."

Pavel blinked thrice. _What did I just heard?_

"Hahahaha, to be addressed as great warrior, you are truly an awesome guy, I really like your style. Even though you are dressing like those shitty nobles, you are the true noble in my eyes. Come, man, tell me whatever reason you have to visit our country, I'll help such an awesome guy like you as best as I can. But, of course, only if you can defeat the great me!"

Pavel quickly got himself back under control after listening to such bluntness. However, before he could open his mouth to remind his subordinate of his place, Orland had come face to face with the young man with hand arose trying to shake-hands. "Olrand, know y—"

"It's okay."

—he was cut before he could remind his soldier.

"Introductions are in order, yes?" asked the young man as he accepted Olrand's gesture, and shake-hands they did.

Pavel listened in silence. If the young man was fine with the way Olrand took things then so be it. But he would watch, just to make sure Olrand did not go overboard.

"Naruto Uzumaki. I come from the so far away land, I was a noble and a royal before my home was destroyed. So as of now, I'm just wandering around trying to find a new place to call home. I happened to hear that the Holy Kingdom, despite always being at conflict with the demihumans, is a peaceful and fair country; it is also said that the Holy Queen is a woman that is worthy of her title. So, I come here hoping that I can call this country a home."

Pavel could tell that what this Naruto said was not a lie, however, he was not convinced that was the complete truth. But, he couldn't force the blond to be completely honest. Aside of being wary, it would be a good addition to the country's strength should he become the soldier of the holy kingdom. Perhaps he should ask one of his men to report this to Kelart and have her informed her majesty. Besides, Naruto had said it that he was both royal and noble, it was better for the holy queen to be aware of his presence.

"I'm Olrand Camparno, I'm one of the Nine Colors and one of the strongest human in this kingdom. The man behind me is my boss, Pavel Baraja, he is strong both in melee and long range battle. Though, I'm sure that in a year I will be able to defeat him to avenge my lost two weeks ago. So, Uzumaki, what do you say, would you accept my offer?"

Pavel didn't interfere. Perhaps what Olrand had proposed was the better option, that way he could see how the blond fight. If the blond was stronger than even the "White" then perhaps they could ask his help to join the expedition of fortifying the nearby land and ensure that the demihumans would think twice before trespassed the border.

"If I win, you will be my servant for a week; if you win, I will give you ten gold coins. Are you going to accept it, Olrand?" Naruto asked with a little confident yet gentle smile.

"Huh, of course I'm going to accept it!"

"I will be the referee," said Pavel as he stood beside Olrand who had taken out his sword from its hilt.

Naruto nodded his head agreeing to his words. "Where will we duel?"

Pavel stared for a few seconds at those deep blue eyes. Sighing, "Please, follow me," he said and turned his back then walked toward the stairs located near the high tower—a fifty meters tall tower which was an extended area of the wall dozens meters away from the one of the only three fortified gates of the holy kingdom.

The stairs brought them inside the Holy Kingdom.

After changing words with the Fortress' commander and asking him to send one of soldiers to the capital, Pavel led Naruto who was conversing with Olrand toward the training ground located near their HQ building.

There were dozens soldiers practicing their swords, spears, bows, and some of them were practicing some martial arts unique to a monk. Clearly, none of them was an expert, rather, they were all amateurs. But Pavel believed that they were stronger than the soldier of Re-Estize and normal soldier of the Empire. Perhaps, in a year or two, these soldiers would be able to take five empire's soldiers at once. He believed so since they're his men, he had always encouraged and helped them to be stronger.

_Ah, if only my beloved daughter doesn't so adamant about being a Paladin…_

No matter how much he loved and treasured his beloved daughter, Neia, he couldn't do anything about his daughter's lack of sword talent. _If only she chose to follow after me rather than her mother_, Pavel thought hopingly. But, he couldn't do anything about it. As a father, he could only support his beloved daughter and do anything she'd ask of him. Though, she was still thirteen, she wouldn't be joining the paladin training until this year ended. He'd be damn if he didn't try spending more time with her cute daughter.

"Platoon Sergeant, Sir!" saluted the soldiers as soon as they landed eyes on him.

Pavel saluted them back and ordered them to return to their activities, which they unquestioningly obeyed. As the soldiers continued their practice, Pavel took place at the center of an empty training ground—there were seven training grounds in total. He motioned both Naruto and Olrand to stand on his left and right side.

"Do you need a sword, or, are you a magic caster..?" asked Pavel to the sword-less Naruto.

"Hm, can you lend me one?"

Pavel noted that the blond didn't respond to the second question. He didn't bother though, if the blond could afloat then it need not be answered. He nodded his head and throw his secondary—his primary weapon was obviously the bow on his back—weapon, which was a short black edge sword with white hilt, to the blond. Naruto caught the sword with his right hand and swung it a few times to test it. "It is a rather good sword," commented the blond, of which Pavel nodded his head agreeing. "It is worth ten gold coins," he said with a little pride in his voice.

Naruto nodded his head and shifted his eyes to his opponent, who was already in his fighting stance which was a stance that relied on strength and reflects. Pavel noted the difference between Olrand's stance and Naruto's. From his experiences, he could guess that Naruto's relied purely on speed. _It will be a good duel,_ he thought and raised his right hand. "Are you both ready?" Receiving no answer, Pavel took that as a yes and accordingly he brought his hand down and announced: "Fight, begin!"

As he took steps back, both Naruto and Olrand rushed toward each other. Despite having big body (bigger than Naruto's and his), Olrand was not low in speed. Rather, the black haired warrior was as fast as him.

Olrand swung his greatsword which was twice in size compared to the short sword in Naruto's right hand. The strength behind his swing could shatter any stone, it was even strong enough to kill a weak demihuman with ease. Yet, Naruto parried that swing of Orland's sword with ease. The blond didn't stop there, he side-kicked Olrand on his left side causing the short black haired warrior to be thrown away before finally fell onto the ground with a little "boom" sound.

The strength—despite not using any martial arts—behind the kick was undoubtedly strong, it would be hard for anyone to defend it without using any martial arts. Witnessing that confirmed the wary he felt; he had no doubt that the blond was strong. Though, he still didn't know how strong, but he believed that the blond could defeat the "White".

"Oi! What was that?! We are warrior, we fight with our weapon!" yelled Olrand in annoyed tone, he could see a little amount of blood had leaked out of his mouth, but Olrand quickly wiped it with his finger.

"A sword is an extended hand for all swordman," replied Naruto in a calm and gentle voice. "If our extended hand can't reach our enemy, it is obvious we need to use our legs and remaining hand. A swordman who only relies on his sword, he is an arrogant and a fool of swordman. Once his sword is lost or broken, he is over. But not with me, even if my sword shatters beyond repair, I still have hands and legs to use. That is what it means to be a fighter, and all people who fight—be it warrior or magic caster—are called fighter. Do remember, a fighter fights with everything he/she has. Now then, great warrior Olrand, are you going to be a petty fighter who hides behind warrior pride or a true fighter?"

Indeed what the blond had said was true, Pavel himself also had learnt sword art so that he did not become vulnerable once he had no longer arrow with him or that he's being forced to fight in close combat. Well, he was not good with hand to hand combat, perhaps he should learn it as well. Such time when he lost all his weapons, he'd need hand to hand combat to protect his life.

"Hahaha, haha, hahahahahaha! Great, great, Uzumaki. I have always putting my warrior side upfront, but you have just awakened my thirst for complete victory; I will be a true fighter and show you my true might. **Greater Strength, Greater Speed, Iron Skin, Heavy Hitter**!" Olrand ran in greater speed then jumped a few meters above while bringing his great sword above his head. He was ready to deliver his strongest attack toward his opponent.

Pavel recognized all those four martial arts and the thing Olrand was going to do. With **Heavy Hitter** adding to his **Iron Skin** which increased his already great strength which had been boosted by **Greater Strength**, a small swing of Olrand's greatsword could break any mythril armor. If the sword was made of adamantite, Pavel believed that such attack would be so dangerous, even he couldn't escape without accepting heavy wounds. Yet, Naruto was not showing any sort of concern. Rather, he was smiling as if he was pleased with the spirit Olrand had.

"Good, good, that is spirit!" exclaimed Naruto as he made his own stance—Pavel could see that the sword he lent to him was covered with bluish energy he knew nothing about.

"**Hidden Art: Super Heavy Swing of Mighty Warrior**!" Olrand yelled as he outright brought his sword vertically down toward Naruto who was waiting in silence. If it was to hit then even his short sword—which was made of high low quality orichalcum—would crack.

As soon as Olrand's greatsword was near, Naruto lifted the short sword in a great speed.

Clink! The sword connected each other. Naruto was not moving an inch despite Olrand's strength behind his sword's swing. However, the land beneath Naruto was cracking, but nothing happened to his short sword.

Gritting his teeth, Olrand's tightened both his hands on his sword's hilt and increased his strength. Naruto did nothing but smile. Then, the bluish energy that was covering the short sword became whiter before it sparked and became the very lightning which soon covered Olrand's whole body.

A small screamed eluded Olrand's mouth before he fell onto the ground and lost his consciousness. He was not dead though, Pavel could tell that by seeing his breathing circulation. Olrand was fainting due to the blond's lightning. _So he is indeed both warrior and mage,_ thought Pavel as he approached the defeated form of Olrand.

"I see, it's still hard for me to fully control it."

Pavel shifted his eyes to the blond who was seeing the lightning which covered the short sword with face filled with disappointment.

"You can't fully control it?" Pavel couldn't help but asked. "From what I was seeing, it's already strong," he continued as he carried Olrand on his back. The big man was heavy, but Pavel could carry him with ease.

"It should be able to turn people into ashes, but I'm not yet at that level. Nonetheless, this is a good sword, mind selling it to me? I will buy this with twenty gold coins if you want."

Pavel stared at the blond, he then shifted his eyes to his short sword at the blond's right hand which was no longer covered by lightning, he then stared back at the blond's deep blue eyes. "It is hard to find that kind of sword," he reasoned.

"I will not mind giving you twenty five gold coins."

Pavel sighed. "Okay, you can have it."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Naruto as he took a small pouch from inside his royal cloth. From within it he took twenty five gold coins and handed it to him which he accepted reluctantly. Naruto then took another twenty five gold from that small pouch and handed it to him while saying: "Since he will be my servant for a week, give it to anyone who is willing to replace Orland's job for that very week."

"You are actually serious about it," deadpanned Pavel as he took those gold coins and handed Naruto the short sword's sheath.

"Of course I'm serious, just like I'm serious about considering calling this kingdom a home." Naruto said that while accepting the sheath and then saved his pouch back inside his royal cloth.

"I see," Pavel nodded his head lightly. "Follow me, we will write down your identity inside the administrator's office. After Olrand awakens then you can enter the city. I believe I don't need to say this but just in case, I will warn you not to break the rules of our holy kingdom."

With the sword in its sheath in his left hand, Naruto nodded his head and followed after Pavel.

Everything was done in fifteen minutes, and it had been ten minutes after Naruto and Olrand left to explore the cities. Pavel had first assumed that the blond was rich and had many servants placed inside the other country. Naruto indeed had much money since he said "money is of no concern to me", however, contrary to his assumption, he had no servants left, which meant that Naruto was left alone venturing the world. Naruto also said that in the place of his origin, all people fought in same style as him: they combined magic and sword to a greater degree than that of paladin.

Pavel could tell that the blond was not a bad person, so he hoped that he came to like this kingdom and became one of its soldiers. He had relayed all of his thought about the blond in a latter which was now being brought to the royal palace. Since the soldier who was tasked with informing it to Kelart had little information to give, the latter he sent would certainly help.

"Alright then," he said to himself as he left his chair. "I will buy a good sword for my beloved daughter and buy another short sword for me."

_It would be hard to get that same short sword, but I hope at least there is one comparable or stronger._

**###**

Olrand had not felt utter defeat before. Not to Pavel, not to demihumans, and not to anyone since he had become one of "Nine Colors". However, today, he had tasted the feeling of utter defeat. It was so bitter, more so when he remembered that his strongest swing could do nothing to his opponent. Even when he was having a mock battle with Pavel, he could land a few hit and can fight on the same level. Yet, before the Uzumaki, he had not landed any hit; he was defeated with ease. The fight itself could be described as a full disappointment for his strength. He was weak, he was feeling so weak at the moment.

However, it didn't mean that he hate the blond. Contrary to it, he admired his strength and his style. The blond was a mountain he could never climbed with his all; the blond was superior to anyone he knew to be stronger than his full power. Olrand didn't know whether the blond could stand before the might of Platinum Dragon, but he believed that none of younger dragon lords could defeat Uzumaki—that's if the younger dragon lords' strength were indeed as strong as he knew (he had never met them so he might be wrong). Accordingly, it would be so damn hard for him to defeat the blond; he needed to hone his skill to another level.

_Wait, shouldn't I take advantage of this servant-thing to spar with him every day to better myself?_

Olrand's lips curled above, a chuckle almost escaped his mouth if he didn't hold himself. As that wonderful thought embedded in his mind, he looked to his right with the corner of his eyes. Seeing a confident look on the blond's face, Olrand's swore that one day, even though it was the last thing he'd do, he'd defeat the blond—or at least landed a few hits on him.

"Why are you stealing glance at me?" asked Naruto in disgusted tone. "I'm sorry, I'm not swung that way, I still prefer a beautiful woman over any man; you have to find another man to satisfy yourself."

Olrand's footsteps came to halt. His eyes widened and his mouth was agape. He was shock, no, he was baffled by the blond's response that he couldn't do anything but watched the blond in horror. "I'm not into a fucking man, damn it!" he shouted with face red in anger as soon as he caught the damn meaning of the blond's word.

Naruto stopped himself and turned his body facing the warrior. "Are you… not?" he asked with doubt showing on his face.

"I'm fucking not, you bastard! Don't say such a shitty joke!"

"Oh, so you know that I was joking? Good. Now then, let us continue." The blond walked away just like that.

Olrand was stupefied by that response. _That damn Uzumaki was joking..?_

"Oi, are you sure that it was a joke?" Olrand was serious at asking the question. He was a prideful warrior who loved woman, there's no way he'd fall too low as to love a man! Indeed that he had tasted the pleasure of woman's body for just one time, it was a prostitute at the brothel in the south who had given him pleasure after he had finished his very first mission. He had spent a whole night at the cost of one gold coin, and it had been years since then. Even if it was only once and he had no plan of testing it again anytime soon, he'd not look for a man. Even if the woman disappeared from the world, he wouldn't fall into a man's embrace. He's a man, he had a dick, he didn't need another dick! It'd hurt his pride if the blond had the wrong impression on him, so he was being adamant about it. If he didn't correct this misunderstanding, there's a chance that it'd leak. There's already a rumor that the holy queen had an unhealthy relationship with the priest, he didn't want to be another subject of rumor.

"Yes, it was a joke. Though, if you happen to give that 'excited' look like before, I'm tempted to believe you have an amoral perverted thought involving yourself and another man."

Olrand sighed in relief. It was good that the blond was merely making a cheap joke, he didn't need to worry about being a subject of stupid rumor. "Wait, what do you mean by 'excited' look?" Orland asked as he chased after Naruto.

"Perhaps if you looked at the mirror when you are having the 'excited' look then you would understand, let us leave it at that. Anyway, you're supposed to guide me, so you have to share your knowledge about the Fortress City of Kalinsha."

Olrand couldn't help but snorted at the blond's words.

"Perhaps if you do your job properly then I will consider on having another duel with you."

Olrand's expression changed drastically at the mention of having another duel. For a free-spirited warrior who loved to fight like him, the prospect of battling a powerful opponent was like a merchant in the face of gold mine. "Alright, I will tell you everything I know!" so he said with an excited voice.

"There are three fortresses between the great wall and the Kalinsha City," began Olrand. "Each of the fortresses stood near each of the fortified gates. The fortress where we're dueling is the strongest out of the three, and ahead of this road we're walking is the gate of the Fortress City of Kalinsha. Along the road, like what you can see, there are villages which consisted of hundreds of people. Unlike the villagers from the other country, our villagers are trained in protecting themselves. It is a mandatory that each of citizens of the holy kingdom were to have military training at least for a year, be it a male or woman, there is no exception unless they're incapable of moving. Having said that, our people are like the extension of our army; we are ready to fight anytime the demihumans attack our land." Olrand didn't bother to check whether or not the blond were listening to him, he's going on his own accord as he continued explaining everything he knew about the Fortress City of Kalinsha.

They reached the city after an hour of journey in leisure speed—they could be faster if they rode horse or walked in fast speed, but they chose not to.

**###**

Other than the numbers of soldiers who were placed there and the number of temples which could only rivaled by Cities in Slane Theocracy, Fortress City of Kalinsha was not so different to other cities in other countries. Naruto's clones had visited some cities in each human's countries, so he had a deep understanding of the difference between a city in a country to a city in another country. Though, despite having visited many countries, the clones didn't explore it to a great detail than they explored the countries' capital. So, it would be good for him to explore this city.

_Besides, there'd be a chance that a corrupt noble or underground man lived inside this city, it'd be wonderful to loot their gold._

Naruto's clone had collected more than five thousand gold coins from underground men and corrupt nobles from different countries. His biggest targets were Eight Fingers, Re-Estize's nobles, and southern holy kingdom's nobles. His clone had amassed eighty five percent out of all his golds from them. He didn't know what those guys would be doing knowing that their saving were stolen, but Naruto's clone had left something which pinpointed Slane Theocracy as the culprit. At first he had no plan of leaving evidence, but Slane Theocracy did annoy his clone by enslaving the elves and had even gone as far as to forbid them from wearing cloth. Despite they were human, those bastards were inhumane. Naruto actually had no problem with religious people, but those people of Theocracy were beyond his toleration. He could clearly imagine what would happen to him if those bastards lived in Konoha while he was a child: it would be an endless nightmare. Roble Holy Kingdom was religious too, but they were not as fanatic as those bastards. Except in south region, there was no slavery in the north region, the holy queen was so adamant about it. Hence, Naruto had no problem coming to this kingdom. Perhaps after leaving the north region, he would then go to south and rule over them, after that he'd propose a deal with the holy queen so that the south and north could be united.

_Nah, why would I bother doing such a thing?_

Indeed he could no longer become a hokage, was it the reason he came to think of ruling the south?

_Such nonsense!_

It would be better for him to be an adventurer rather than a ruler. He had aimed to be hokage so that the people of konoha would acknowledge him. But Naruto understood it better now: he wouldn't be acknowledged by people if he became hokage, it was another way around, he'd become hokage if the people acknowledged him. Since the very beginning, his mindset had been wrong. He was so naïve back then. Perhaps, it was the loneliness that had turned him into a naïve man. If only his father was not so trusting back then…

Naruto sighed. There's no use to linger in the past, was not he's going to start his life anew? Then, was not it better to follow the reason of coming to this kingdom he had told Pavel Baraja before?

"So, what will you do now that we are in Kalinsha?"

Naruto averted his eyes to his left, Olrand was looking at him waiting for his response. The big man was a free-spirited man and quite blunt, but he was not a bad guy. Rather, he was an enjoyable guy, it was so easy to get under his skin. "Is there a good inn near the gate at the other side of this city?" so Naruto asked, ignoring Olrand's question, he noted to himself to prank the big guy if the chance arose.

He could see that Olrand was frowning, but he paid no concern to that.

"Not near the gate, but not too far either. I'm sure it will be enough to fit in your standard."

"Very well, we're going to that inn." To that inn they went. Since it was located at another side of the city, naturally they needed to pass the center of the city. Naruto took notice of the buildings and shops he passed by, he had not seen any which was suspicious. Though, he couldn't help but groaned, inwardly, when a priest approached him and Olrand.

"May the Four bless you, kind Sirs. I'm Elucas, a new priest in charge of God of Light Temple in Kalinsha. Tomorrow we will be holding a ceremony to official my position, in that holy chance, anyone who wishes to be healed by the priest needs only pay half of the normal fee. In that regards, kind Sirs, we are hoping for your present and we delightfully welcome you to offer the temple a kind donation so that we can further aid the believers."

_Believers my ass!_ Naruto was displeased with the greedy priest before him. He had seen that the priest only approached the people with good cloths, they paid no attention to the poor ones. But it would not be wise to openly insult them, perhaps he would steal their gold tonight and give it to the poor people who clearly deserved it more than the temple.

"I will see whether I have free time to attend that ceremony, honorable priest," so he said with a good fake smile.

"Such heartwarming words, I hope the Four make it so that you can have that free time. Good day, kind sirs, may you enjoy your time."

Naruto nodded his head and watched as the priest left to look for another rich-looking people. As soon as that greedy priest left his eyesight, Naruto shifted his eyes to Olrand and asked: "What do you think of that priest?"

"That greedy priest you mean?" Olrand didn't wait for his response, "He is an asshole. Most of the priests work for money first and gods later; a good priest who is willing to help people for free is rare. That is why I'm not fond of them, heck, I'm not even religious myself. In my whole life, I only visited the temple once, it was on my mother's demand that I went to temple."

Naruto smiled at Olrand's words. "It is nice to know that; I dislike the fanatic, fanatic is less humane than monster. Enough of that, let us continue walking."

They then walked through the city in leisure pace. They didn't stop at any place, since the inn was a high class one then surely they provided good food to eat. There're no magic item store that sold high quality of magic item, despite Kalinsha was the city of the frontier, it had no good magic item and weapon store. Such store could only be found in Hoburns, though there was a famous store in Prart which sold high quality of weapon.

They arrived at the inn in about fifteen minutes. It was indeed a high class inn, not as high as the inn in Arwintar but high enough to compete with most inns in other cities. The inn was two stories high, it was as big as the HQ at the fortress near the great wall. Naruto booked two rooms: one for him and one for Olrand. After having lunch at the first floor, they both went up the second floor to their own room to rest. It was actually for Naruto to rest, he had told Olrand to do as he pleased till tomorrow morning, at which they would depart to Prart.

**-End of Chapter-**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Shinobi for the Queen**

**-Chapter 3-**

In the past midnight, Naruto's clone awoke him from his sleep. "We have secured everything," it said with a little smile on its lips. "The mayor of the city is a fine man, the noble who owns this land is not a generous man but not a corrupt noble either, he is just doing the necessary things so that he doesn't stand on the queen's bad side. Oh, that noble also own the city of Prart, he also lives there. Seemingly, he is one of the strongest nobles."

Naruto nodded his head and left the bed, he drank a glass of fresh water which was left on the table near the bed before returning his eyes back on his clone. "Was it difficult?" asked Naruto, there's no curiosity in his tone though.

"They have no magic item like the one protecting the Treasure Room of Slane Theocracy, so we could infiltrate it with ease."

Naruto frowned at the mention of Slane Theocracy. Those fanatic's protection over their treasure room was worthy of praise, even with all its tricks, his clone couldn't enter it undetected. Not to mention the half-elf who was protecting it, his clone couldn't even land a hit on her as it disappeared with a fast surprise attack. Though, he was not afraid of being seen, his clone had covered itself from head to toe after all. The only way for that half-elf girl to know that the clone was him was if he used a clone before that girl. Since that girl was not allowed to leave Kami Miyako, there was nothing to worry about. Even though she, somehow, left the capitol, she'd never know that was his clone unless he let her know.

"Will you leave? It is better if you let us do all the things, you don't need to waste your time."

Naruto could only smile at his clone. "You are right, but that greedy priest is annoying. Anyway, I want you to continue learn Fuinjutsu, you can only stop when I say so. This world is more brutal than the elemental nations, I will die if I can't even protect myself from a simple magic item."

The clone nodded his head obediently and moved from the window. Seeing that, Naruto walked to the window and unsealed a white fox mask and a black robe. As soon as he wore it, his appearance was the same as the clone next to him. "Don't forget to remove your mask and robe," said Naruto as he jumped out of the window.

It did not take long for him to reach his destination—an alley which would lead them closer to the temple. His other clone was standing there—before a building wall next to alley—with hands folded on its chest.

"You are happy," said the clone.

"I'm going to give that greedy priest a lesson, I should be happy," countered Naruto as he motioned the clone to lead the way. The clone who dressed in similar manner as Naruto didn't comment its master, it instead turned around leading its master toward a dark alley next to the building's wall.

It was dark and short alley, the temple stood proud a few buildings next to the building in front of the alley. His two clones had ensured that no priest was awake—they had put them into deep sleep, they had also deactivated the magic item that guarded the temple's saving ground. All was secured, the only thing he needed to watch out was the patrolling guards, but it really was not something to be worried about.

It took not long for them to reach the temple's double door. Naturally it was locked, but his clone simply unlocked it with a key it had taken from that greedy priest who lived next to the temple. It was normal for a priest to live next to the temple, it was not even weird for priest to live inside a temple if the temple was large. However, the temple before them was not the large one, so no one lived inside it.

"I take that you have taken that greedy priest's rich," said Naruto as he followed his clone inside the temple.

"Naturally," replied the clone as it locked the double door. "I have looted his rich," continued the clone as it led Naruto toward the saving ground. "I spared but only a single silver coin. Really there is no point for you to come here yourself, but worry not, the gold in his chamber is roughly a tenth of the amount in the saving ground."

"Since he keeps the key, it is natural for him to think the temple's saving ground as his own."

The clone didn't bother to reply. It kept walking until they reached a secluded small room inside the priest's chief's office. The clone used that same key to unlock it, and they entered that small room without any words.

There was no particular god he worshipped while he was still in elemental nations, it was only natural for him and others to pray before and after eating, so he knew not how the shrine in his world sustained itself. But the temple in this world, they got the money from healing the people, which was why they didn't heal for free. If they did that then it was no different than they hurting themselves, the temple would end up stopped operating. However, Naruto was not going to spare the temple just because of that, he would still do what he wanted to do: taking the money and distributed it to the poor people.

"Take all the money, spare only five gold coins," ordered Naruto to his clone.

"I thought you'd do it by yourself."

"I just want to see it with my own two eyes. Besides, my target is that greedy priest, I'll do my best to paint him as the thief."

The clone nodded its head and began collecting the money. As his clone doing that, Naruto stepped out of the room and headed to the statue of the god of light. He could see a nice necklace around the statue's neck, it was no doubt the item which was guarding this temple. Currently it was deactivated, a number of seals were circling that necklace prevented it from being activated. His clone could do that because that item was incomparable to the item in the treasure room of Slane Theocracy. With his current self, he couldn't do anything about the item in that fanatic country. Regardless, one day he would make sure to infiltrate that treasure room.

Naruto raised his left hand and took that necklace from its place. He looked at it for a few minutes, thinking of the best way as to how he should process his plan without making problems for the poor. After a while, Naruto decided that it was best not to distribute the money right away, he'd do that in a week after leaving Kalinsha. By doing that, no one would believe the priest even though he had the guard inspected the whole city. By putting the necklace secretly in the greedy priest's home, it was bounded to be found either by him or the other priests. Since he had the key, it would be easy to paint the greedy priest as the culprit. In the end, no one would believe the greedy priest was innocent.

"It is done."

Naruto turned around facing his clone. "Good," he said, "let us leave this place."

This time, Naruto did not wait for his clone, he led the way exiting the office room and walked farther until they arrived before the double door of the temple. The clone threw the key to him without any instruction, Naruto caught it with ease and unlocked the door. They then exited the temple at once.

"I will go screw that greedy priest," said Naruto as he relocked the double door. "You go ahead and make yourself comfortable. In a week after I depart this city, you will distribute the money to the poor people without them knowing, after that you can return to me."

The clone nodded its head. "That priest is on the third room from the stair in the second floor," saying that, the clone jumped above the temple and disappeared from his sight.

Naruto, too, left the temple toward the building next to it. It was a two stories building, slightly larger than the temple. Naruto wasted no time and jumped toward the window on the second floor. He peeked inside the first window, seeing no people inside, he leapt toward the third window without looking at the second window. The window was not locked—assuming that the greedy priest had properly locked his window, his clone might have unlocked it beforehand. And inside he went, the greedy was sleeping next to a woman without a care in the world, they both seemed naked beneath the blanket, Naruto was not going to look just to confirm his assumption though. Without wasting any more time, Naruto hurried himself hiding the necklace beneath the bed. After that, Naruto put back the key inside the drawer next to the bed.

Naruto was tempted to draw the Eight Fingers' symbol inside the drawer, but he decided against it since the greedy priest was not that sinful. What he had done was enough to punish the greedy priest, he shouldn't overdo it. Though, adding a little prank was not that bad, was it? Having that thought, Naruto unsealed a bottle of ink and a brush from his fuinjutsu scroll. Applying chakra on his feet, Naruto jumped and stood upside down on the ceiling without making any noise. He then squatted and started working on drawing the very image of the statue from where he had taken the necklace. Naruto knew not about the supposed god of light, but that statue was dedicated to the god so it must be how the god of light looked like.

If he was to be honest, there's no way Naruto would consider gods worshipped by those fanatics to be the actual gods. It was illogical for god to be more than one, because it would pain that the god was not omnipotent on his own, he was not omniscience if he was alone, and he was not omnipresent without the other gods' help. God, He should be omnipotent, omniscience, and omnipresent on His own. God needs no one, God can do everything – He has no limit, and no one is similar to god. Following those all, those so called the Six Great Gods were but a lie—a lie made by human of the old and it was passed on to the next generation. He was not going to laugh or accuse those believers as fools though, it was up to them to believe in whatever could comfort them in this brutal world.

It took almost fifteen minutes for Naruto to finish his drawing. Sealing back the ink and brush, he then softly and gracefully jumped down to the floor, making no noise while doing so. Lifting up his head, he had to admit that it was a splendid work. The greedy priest might think it was the god of light's punishment to him and the temple if he looked at his work. If he could convince the others, perhaps then the greedy priest punishment wouldn't be too severe, and it would make the god became more credible, thus increasing the popularity of god of light. Well, it was if that greedy priest was lucky and convincing, if not then his fate wouldn't change.

Having enough of marveling his work, Naruto decided to leave. He didn't immediately return inside the inn, rather he remained outside on top of its rooftop. There he sat in meditation position, while at the same time he performed and maintained his former master's prize jutsu, _Transparent Escape Technique_. Naruto couldn't neglect from training his senjutsu, he theorized that his body would be more durable if he got used to this world's natural energy. Even if it—the durability—would only be in sennin mode, at least he could lessen the time needed to tap in senjutsu. To withstand a true dragon lord's breath without any wound, he wanted to be that strong. No, he was not crazed for power, he just wanted to survive in the world where the dead could be brought back with a simple tier five magic, **Raise Dead**; he wanted to survive in the world where immortality was real; he wanted to survive in the world where human became food to the demihuman; he wanted to survive in the world where dragon, demon, angel, and ghost were fucking real.

Yes, Naruto—his clone to be precise—had seen ghosts, skeleton ghosts. Damned it did scare him for a whole week, even now he would not fucking willing to go near those skeletons. It didn't matter that they were supposed to be weak, they were scary, period. That was also the reason why he wanted to always be in senjutsu mode, that way he could ensure himself to never go to a place dominated by negativity, a place dominated by ghost. Facing a true dragon lord was better than facing those ghosts, at least to him.

Time went by in haste, Naruto focused on controlling his senjutsu: he absorbed natural energy, controlling it, maintaining it, and ended up releasing it. He repeated that process for dozens number of time. As he's busy, dawn had decided to descend to the night world. Deeming enough, Naruto stopped his routine and left the rooftop, and inside the inn—the room he rent—he went.

As the sun rose slowly, morning had again showed itself to the world.

Naruto descended from his room at the second floor. Olrand had seated himself at one of the table, seemingly waiting for the inn owner to serve him breakfast. The big guy waved at him, Naruto went there without returning the wave. "How was your sleep, enjoyable?" asked Naruto as he seated himself opposite side of Olrand.

"I don't want to talk about it, it was truly a nightmare. By just thinking it now is enough to frighten me."

Naruto wanted to laugh out loud, but he held himself from doing so. It wouldn't be good to laugh at the big man, Olrand might suspect him if he laughed—even though it was impossible to suspect him for casting a C rank genjutsu on the man. "Just take it easy," so he said, "perhaps you need to relax yourself more, Olrand."

"It was your mistake, Uzumaki, you should have never accused me as gay!" snorted Olrand, his voice was low to avoid other people from hearing it—he didn't want the other to make fun of him.

"I'd not have said it had you not showed me that disgusting face," countered Naruto.

Olrand sighed in a defeated tone, at that time that the inn owner—seemingly to be the daughter of the owners—brought two plates of food and two glasses of fresh milk. "Here our best this morning," said the girl as she served them the foods.

"Since you are going to pay anyway, I have ordered the best food for you as well."

"How considerate of you," muttered Naruto. Thanking the girl, Naruto clasped both his hands in praying manner. He didn't care the way he pray differed to everyone else, he just minded his own manner. Finished, Naruto took the spoon and began eating—Olrand had started even before him.

"Did you hear that last night the temple's saving ground was stolen?" asked one of the newcomers.

"I heard," another guy replied, "the priests said that it was the work of the god of light, they said 'the god of light is not pleased with the temple, He wants us to improve the building and our service'."

"Are you sure that it was not the work of the priests?" one of customers asked sarcastically.

"Apparently not, the temple's chief said that the god of light had left His image on top of his room's ceiling, he said 'it is the message from Him'."

Naruto, inwardly, smiled at those words. _It seems the greedy priest hides the fact that his money is stolen as well, huh?_ Not a bad move from his part, that way people wouldn't accuse him as a thief since he now had no money with him—except for that single coin his clone had spared. Was it kindness that made Naruto drew that image? Nah, it was purely a prank, but perhaps that greedy priest believed it to be a sort of punishment from his god, or, that he was smart enough to make used of the picture to save himself. Whichever was fine though, Naruto's plan was achieved either way. Smiling, Naruto continued eating.

"Are we going to Prart right away?"

Naruto shifted his sight toward Olrand, he had finish eating—his speed of eating was perhaps as fast as his pace of eating ramen. "Yes," replied Naruto, "we will leave Kalinsha soon, there is nothing much to see in this city after all."

**###**

Neia had finally arrived to Prart when the sun arrived at the top of the vast sky. She looked attentively at the large gate before her. It was not as large as in Hoburns, but still large enough in her eyes. She didn't come to this city alone. Her mother, Elena, had asked her friends to let her join them to Prart. At first her mother had promised her to go together to get the sword her mother had promised her a few months ago. However, her mother wasn't allowed to leave Hoburns for a week, apparently the Paladin Order had something big to do. Neia didn't know about what, but perhaps about preparing the expedition that her father had told her. Neia was not happy with that, she wanted to go with her mother. But she wasn't egoist enough to protest, so she willingly obeyed her mother and joined her friends, their neighbor, to Prart.

"Neia, what are you looking at? Let us hurry!"

Neia shook her head lightly and avoided her eyes from the gate. "I'm going!" replied Neia as she hurriedly chased after her neighbors.

Prart was a beautiful city, not to the same extent as Hoburns but nonetheless it had its own beauty. Of course its beauty was not suited for people who were looking for scenery or refresh air, rather it was dedicated for people who wished to live in the city yet unwilling to live in the busy one—a second class city. Neia herself preferred Hoburns, not only they lived there, she also would join the paladin training there in next year; living in Prart was never in option.

The inn they rented was a middle class one. They rented two rooms: one for the couple, and another one for her and their daughter, her friend Malena, who was at similar age as her. The couple had a business with their friend here in Prart, seemingly it would take at least three days after that day for them to remain in this city. Neia wanted to leave as soon as she got the sword from the blacksmith, but Malena had managed to persuade her to stay with her and return together to Hoburns.

"It is refreshing," muttered Malena—a black haired girl with fair skin and big eyes.

"Yes," chimed Neia as she fell on the bed next to Malena, "it is nice to lie down on bed after having such a long journey."

"How right you are!"

Both of them fully enjoyed themselves lazing and rolling on their bed—a single big bed which was large enough to accommodate three adult human. They talked about mundane topic, sharing the resent dreams they had, and of course they also made plans for the days onward—they couldn't just spend the next three days lazing around after all. It was only after half hour or so that they fell asleep, with happy smile on their respective face.

Early in the morning, both Neia and Malena left the inn to venture the city on their own. They're thirteen years old already, they're no longer children, it'd not be wise to include adult on their activities. In the capitol, Neia could only wander on her own if his father was on duty, if not then his father would insist either on tailing or joining her. Malena on the other hand, she disliked going alone, hence she insisted Neia to join her or else she'd be alone since both her parents would be so busy.

They first visited a store next to the inn, the store was about to open. It was a medium class store at best. Neia didn't know what they're selling, but considering how early they prepared, it should be a restaurant or something alike. Unlike Neia who liked to think first before doing something, Malena did whatever came to mind first. "What are you selling in this store which doesn't look like a store, uncle?" She heard her friend asking the store owner.

"Can't you read the words above, little girl? It says: 'Come! Buy our magic items, while at it you can test the deliciousness of our foods'."

Indeed there were such words written above, it was embarrassing for her to not notice it; she couldn't become a good paladin if she could not even survey her surrounding in detail. She needed to increase her observation skill. Not to mention her lack of sword talent, the road to her dream became windy and windy each passing day. It did not mean that she'd give up though, nor would she complain; she just had to give it her all. It didn't matter that if she could never fulfill it, at least she did try to fulfill her dream. Try and never give up, that's what matter the most.

"That's not an attitude you should show to the customer, even a child knows how to behave as a seller. Truly, you are such a disappointment, uncle!" accused Malena, making Neia face-palmed at her.

"Are you planning to buy?" asked the uncle.

"Nope."

"Then don't talk about you being a customer, little girl!"

"Tehehehe, you should be more cheerful, uncle! Smile, smile!"

"…Ahahahaha, I like you, little girl."

"Y-You…. are you a pe-pedophile..?"

"Whaaa.. you! I take it back, i hate you, little girl!"

"Hehehehehehe, it's a joke, uncle, a joke!" yelled Malena, she then left the shop owner just like that.

"That is not a proper joke!" yelled back the uncle.

Neia sighed and bowed to the uncle, "Forgive her for her rude behavior, uncle."

"It's okay," waved the uncle. "By the way, how many days you have not sleep?" he asked in wonder.

"I sleep properly!" shouted Neia in an annoyed tone, she then ran after her friend without looking back at the store owner who was unconvinced by her shout.

Both girls averaging thirteen years old then roamed around the city to their heart content.

Neia and her friend Malena finally arrived to the home of the blacksmith at late noon. There was no one outside, but the door was opened. Nervously, Neia peeked inside. Although it lacked the light, she still could see a number of weapons hanging on the wall. They were all beautiful weapons, the blacksmith who had made them was certainly a great blacksmith. Neia had never met him personally, but her mother spoke highly of him.

"Excuse me!" yelled Neia. "I'm Neia Baraja, I come here in the behalf of my mother, Elena Baraja, to pick up the sword."

"Wait a moment!"

Neia waited like the voice yelled. Malena was bored, it was clear to Neia tha she wanted to enter the blacksmith's house. However, Neia stood next to the door, preventing the cheerful girl from storming inside. They did not wait long, about five minutes later that the man—who seemed to be the blacksmith—came out of his house with a beautiful sword in his right hand.

"Neia Baraja, is it?" asked the old man as he offered the sword for her to take.

"Thank you, uncle!" exclaimed Neia as she took the sword from the man—who's as old as his father. It was indeed a light and beautiful sword—it was modeled after her father sword but longer in length.

"Try to swing it," told the blacksmith.

Neia did as told. She took a few steps backward and began swinging the sword. "It is incredible, I love this sword, uncle!" exclaimed Neia, feeling excited.

The uncle let a proud smile graced his lips. "It is made of platinum, so apparently it is inferior to Pavel Baraja's short sword. Regardless, I'm proud of it. Since you like it, I'll give it to you for 5 gold coins only."

Neia blinked, her grip on the sword loosened. "…5 gold coins? But… but mother did not say anything about its cost, so I thought she has had paid it in advance."

"…Does it mean you don't have the money with you?"

"I have only 12 silver coins with me, Uncle…"

"Well, it seems I can't give you the sword. Come, return that sword to me." The blacksmith stretched his hand, waiting for Neia to return the sword.

"But…" Neia was reluctant at doing what the uncle asked of her. She had come to like the sword, she didn't want to return it. How could her mother forget giving her the money? Or, did she say that she had paid it in advance? Neia tried to recall the conversation she had with her mother, but she couldn't recall anything about the sword's cost.

_I left with no choice but to borrow some gold from Malena,_ thought Neia. "Er, Malena…" so she said, looking reluctantly at her friend. "Do you happen to bring gold coins with you?"

Malena nodded her head. "But only one," she answered, apologetically.

Neia stared at the blacksmith. Normally a girl her age would try to use puppy eyes and persuade him to at least give her additional time to get the money. However, with the piggy black around her eyes, it would look frightening rather than cute.

"I will give it to you only if you promise me that from tonight you will sleep properly."

It tempted Neia to yell "I sleep properly", but, because it'd not due to let the sword go, Neia held herself from yelling. Instead, she smiled as gently as she could. Perhaps if she didn't have those two black marks below her eyes, she'd look at least cute—at least she believed herself to be cute, her father said so! "I will," so she finally said.

"Good!" exclaimed the blacksmith. "Make me proud by making that sword famous through your exploits in the years to come."

Neia couldn't help but smile, that kind words were what she wanted to hear. "I will do my best!" she yelled as loud as she could.

"That's spirit, now go!" The blacksmith smiled and started to enter his house. "Make sure to let your mother know that next time I will give her thirty percent discount." With that said, the door was closed with a "bam" voice.

Both Neia and Malena were left stunned, for different reasons. For Malena, the sound of the door being slammed was too loud. Neia, however, was silenced by the blacksmith's last words. If he asked her to let her mother know that the blacksmith would give her a thirty percent discount next time, isn't it meant that her mother had paid for the sword…?

_But… but…._

"Curse you old man, you tricked me!" Neia hit the door with her new sheathed-sword for a few times, huffing and sighing, she let it go and finally started walking leaving the blacksmith's house. Since she had her new sword with her, she'd let that slide. Next time, however, she'd not show mercy.

"What do you mean he tricked you? Was not he being kind to you by giving that sword for free?" Malena chased after her in haste, she had a "confuse" look on her face. "You have to thank that nice old man, but he's a bit rude by slamming the door before us like that."

Neia stopped and stared at her. "Just forget about it," she said and resumed her walk.

The place they're going to visit was an empty place at the corner of the city. It was located quite far from the blacksmith's house but not too far from the inn they stayed in. That place once was a little park, but since no one took care of it, it became an empty rowdy place. Perhaps if that park located in the middle of the city, it'd be taken care, but she was not going to complain—such place was good for her. Neia was eager to practice swinging the sword; soon she'd be a paladin just like her mother!

"I'm hungry." Malena caressed her stomach with her left hand. "Can we eat?" she asked and gestured the food inside the basket she's carrying.

"Weren't you the one who propose to eat at the old park…?"

"Eh, I was the one who propose it? Then, we should hurry and eat there!"

Neia sighed and smiled. "Don't run too fast!" she yelled and chased after her one and only close friend.

**-End of Chapter-**


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